Ace Combat 8 Aircraft Tree Explained
The Aircraft Tree is where campaign MRP turns into jets, special weapons and upgrade parts. MRP is the currency missions pay out, with more for extra objectives. What changed from Ace Combat 7: your wingmen now fly jets you buy for them, carrier missions only accept carrier jets, and a jet can take two special weapons at once.
You start in an F/A-18C
The Hornet is the default jet, and a capable one: it can carry you through the whole campaign if you would rather spend MRP on parts.Carrier missions take carrier jets
When a mission launches from the Endurance, only carrier-capable jets can fly it; they carry an anchor icon in the tree. Free missions can be flown either story-style from the carrier or with every jet you own. The aircraft list has every listed jet.Your wingmen fly what you buy
Jets are owned in quantities. To give your wingmen a jet, buy more copies of it, up to four; the copies after the first cost much less. Auto setup fills their slots for you. You cannot change the special weapon a wingman carries.Two special weapons at once
Each jet offers three special weapons, and you can carry two of them into a mission, at the cost of fewer rounds of each.Parts go in three slots
Upgrade parts are Body, Arms and Misc, and each jet has its own capacity for each type. Parts only affect your own jet, not your wingmen's. Some parts add special-weapon rounds.
Campaign
- Jets and parts bought with MRP
- Wingmen fly the copies you own
- Premium jets like the Morgan unlock only after every mission is cleared
Ace Combat Online
- Same list of jets, earned again from online rewards
- Mercenary rank limits which jets you can get
- Jets level up the more you fly them
Nothing carries across
The campaign and online mode keep separate saves. Jets and parts bought in the tree stay in the campaign; online you start again. The game says so in a pop-up the first time you open the tree. The online mode page covers how progress works there.
Spending MRP well
Buy for the missions ahead. The sortie screen shows whether the next mission leans air-to-air or air-to-ground, and a carrier launch limits you to carrier jets. Wingman copies of a jet you already own cost much less than the first one. Replaying cleared missions is how you farm more MRP; whether a harder setting pays more is disputed, covered on the difficulty page.
Prices and order
Exact MRP prices and the full order of the tree go here as they are confirmed. Until then the aircraft list shows the jets Bandai Namco lists and their roles.
